Savage Curtain's honor guard

In The Savage Curtain, Kirk orders a presidential honor detachment to greet the alien who appears as Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln materialized on the transporter, and as he steps off, I noticed the guards pointing their phasers at Lincoln.

Granted it was a symbolic affair, but is it customary for guards to point their weapons directly at the President?

I accept the kinda cheap, tinny-sounding 'taped' music that was played for the event, but the weapon thing seemed strange.

His order was "Security, send a detachment to the transporter room immediately, phaser sidearms, and be prepared to give presidential honors." It may have been partially sarcastic on that last part, but I think he was preparing for all eventualities, depending on what Bones' medical tricorder showed they had beamed aboard, and putting caution first. His last order to them before Lincoln materialized was "Security, stand ready."

As Kirk explained to Lincoln, "A starship on active duty never carries an honor detachment."

In The Savage Curtain, Kirk orders a presidential honor detachment to greet the alien who appears as Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln materialized on the transporter, and as he steps off, I noticed the guards pointing their phasers at Lincoln.

Granted it was a symbolic affair, but is it customary for guards to point their weapons directly at the President?

I accept the kinda cheap, tinny-sounding 'taped' music that was played for the event, but the weapon thing seemed strange.

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It makes sense: Lee Bergere had to deliver his line "If those are weapons, please lower them" line. The scene needed to blocked so that the guards' phasers were drawn and leveled at Lincoln.

It makes sense: Lee Bergere had to deliver his line "If those are weapons, please lower them" line. The scene needed to blocked so that the guards' phasers were drawn and leveled at Lincoln.

Click to expand...

True enough, that reinforces that it was intended from the beginning. Clearly they were ready for diplomatic functions such as greeting dignitaries (i.e. Journey to Babel), and they didn't point their weapons at Sarek, so it must've been Lincoln-specific such as you say. It just looked odd to me, because otherwise they were respectful to Lincoln in every way. I wasn't implying they were in error, but I guess it was a good thing that that 'young and inexperienced' guard from Friday's Child wasn't there!

In The Savage Curtain, Kirk orders a presidential honor detachment to greet the alien who appears as Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln materialized on the transporter, and as he steps off, I noticed the guards pointing their phasers at Lincoln.

Granted it was a symbolic affair, but is it customary for guards to point their weapons directly at the President?